Adobe unveils Photoshop Elements 8; iPhone to South Korea

Adobe announced Wednesday that Photoshop Elements 8 is coming to the Mac in October; and the South Korean government approved the sale of Apple's iPhone within its borders.

Photoshop Elements 8 for $99

Calling it the "perfect complement" for iPhoto users who want more, Adobe said that the latest version of Photoshop Elements brings new options for Mac users. Version 8 includes all of the intelligent photo editing options of the Windows version, including Photomerge Exposure, Recompose and Quick Fix previews, Scene Cleaner, Smart Brush and Touch-Up.

"With nearly 20 years of Photoshop innovation under our belt, we are able to leverage industry-leading technology that the professionals use and make it accessible to our Elements customers," said Doug Mack, vice president and general manager of Consumer and Hosted Solutions at Adobe. "We've simplified the editing process, without taking away any of the power, and incorporated smart tools with built-in intelligence to bring once difficult tasks, within reach of everyone."

Photoshop Elements for Mac will be available in October with a retail price of $99.99, though Adobe is currently offering a $20 mail-in rebate for preorders. It includes all of the media management features in Adobe Bridge CS4, such as a custom viewing workspace and full-screen preview with one-click close-ups.

Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac was released in early 2008. The latest update offers new features, such as the ability to share photos via iPhone, whiten teeth and make skies bluer and one step, and quickly retouch skin and soften other surfaces. The software requires Mac OS X 10.4.11 and is compatible with Snow Leopard.

South Korea approves iPhone

The Korea Communications Commission approved the iPhone for sale in South Korea Wednesday, allowing Apple's handset into a market that is notoriously closed off.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the commission has long sought to protect native cellphone manufacturers like Samsung and LG. Phone use also has broad market penetration in the nation of nearly 50 million, where 93 percent of citizens are mobile subscribers.

The approval of the iPhone is expected to change the market in South Korea, where users have been saddled with high prices and a lack of smartphone options. No launch date for the device has been made available.

Apple has looked to expand its presence in the East with the iPhone, announcing last month that it reached a deal with carrier China Unicom. That non-exclusive agreement also leaves the door open for the handset maker to strike a deal with China Mobile. With 475 million subscribers in a nation of over one billion, China Mobile is the world's largest wireless carrier.

Isn't South Korea a CDMA country? If so, augurs well for a Verizon deal...?

I believe Korea uses the WCDMA 2100 band while Verizon uses CDMA2000. Although now that Apple is open to the idea of changing the hardware of the phone for particular markets (sans wifi for China Mobile/Unicom) then maybe a Verizon deal is more likely.

Yeah, but for anyone looking to do anything slightly MORE than the simplest of photo editing, Elements still has all the free/cheap apps beat hands down, especially the Gimp based ones. Most are high on bells and whistles and low on feature usefulness. If you want a program to be productive with for $80, Elements really has no peer.